Why did Aragorn journey East and South? | Tolkien Reading Day 2023 - Travel and Adventure

[@CounciloftheRings]

Thank you all for stopping by and celebrating Tolkien Reading Day! 🧙‍♂ Make sure to check out the playlist here: kzbin.info/aero/PLJ-mgGUnQJmzSmIG5mDuoofpsLGbo8uxH If you have anything to spare please consider donating to the victims of the recent earth-quakes in Turkey: www.dec.org.uk/appeal/turkey-syria-earthquake-appeal

[@Dare_To_Game]

Great video. Aragorn's backstory is so interesting.

[@CounciloftheRings]

Yeah very underestimated as well!

[@partyboi8773]

Thanks for this video; really enjoy your channel! It's a very brief passage in Tolkien that describes Aragorn's travels in the South and East. He might well have known of the Blue Wizards (from Gandalf) and have worked together with them in some form, though finding them would've been really difficult. My interpretation of these journeys partly meshes with the video's, but I see his motivation as being much more espionage/military-oriented. He knew these lands were allied with Sauron and wanted to learn as much as he could about them. It would have made sense to do much as he did in Rohan and Gondor, serving as a mercenary, e.g. in border skirmishes between Haradrim and Easterlings, to see firsthand their tactics, their formations, their armaments, etc. One thing very different in the book vs. the movies is that the Army of the Dead never came to the Pelennor Fields to face the Army of Mordor; Aragorn and his swiftly recruited soldiers turned the tide against a huge numerical disadvantage, and though Tolkien doesn't give much detail, he's clear that Aragorn's vanguard was unstoppable. Why? Perhaps in part because he had a deep knowledge of the tactics of these enemies, perhaps he'd even encountered Oliphaunts on the battlefield, for example, and had either seen or devised counter-tactics for fighting them. Although Tolkien doesn't say it, I also suspect through during these journeys, through his courage and brilliance, he may have risen to positions close to commanders and lords of the South and the East. He may even have gathered anti-Mordor sympathizers in those lands to wage some sort of covert guerilla struggle against Sauron's rule. So I see these journeys as essentially a more-realistic 007-type operation: espionage, intelligence gathering, and possibly spreading misinformation and sowing discord and uncertainty to stave off attacks against the West. All without the benefit of safe houses, funding, Q Branch, etc., because that's how Strider rolls. You may be able to tell Aragorn is my favorite fictional character of all time, because the deeper you dig, the more heroic he becomes--in terms of his abilities, his moral compass, and his willingness to sacrifice and risk everything in a noble cause.

[@MetalSeasSiren]

This is the best explanation I've heard and I believe it is spot on. I hope someday that there will be a video about Aragorn and Arwen's early time together and growing love, but I'm a hopeless romantic.

[@CounciloftheRings]

It’s on my to-do list no worries! Including a video about their children 😁

[@MetalSeasSiren]

@@CounciloftheRings 👍👍

[@ErelasInglor]

It was good to see at least two accurate portrayals of artwork done on Aragorn in this video. Good topic!

[@thebrotherskrynn]

Happy Tolkien Reading Day my friend, really enjoyed hearing of Aragorn's travels, I don't think he encountered the Blue Wizards but that would certainly be a fascinating story!

[@CounciloftheRings]

Yeah it's quite interesting he achieves some of the same thing in the East as the Blue wizards, but as mentioned in the video, I'd need a little more proof to see it as a valid theory they worked together :D

[@anna_luin]

Tis very late at the bottom of the world (1am) but looking forward to this.

[@CounciloftheRings]

Sleep tight until then 😁

[@anna_luin]

@@CounciloftheRings I made it to the premier. Have a great weekend.

[@bighand1530]

Same.

[@silverchairsg]

In the archives of Minas Tirith, he found an ancient moth-eaten scroll, written by an ancient sage from the Far Eastern land beyond Mordor. It disclosed the secrets of warfare, and chief among it was the maxim "know thy enemy" which Aragon took to heart.

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

Thank you for the video! It is fun to ponder on what Aragorn may have been doing in the east. I'm sure you are correct with your ideas, but I have a secret wish that Aragorn went east to learn to raise and train oliphaunts! Have you ever watched videos of elephant rescue centers in East Africa? Your heart will melt guaranteed! (They also rehab rhinos and smaller mammals who would die if humans had not rescued them.) Aragorn being kind to animals is something I tend to take for granted. I imagine all the good guys and ladies were like that. There is just something about elephants that is extra captivating, maybe because of their incredible emotional sensitivity towards each other, and with the humans who live with them, and other animals in the rescue centres. Aragorn + elephants = maximum heart meltingness ❤️🐘

[@CounciloftheRings]

Elephants are indeed amazing creatures with a soul you can feel when you look in their eyes. It's quite sad to see how the Haradrim use the Oliphaunts in the war. Who knows maybe WB decides to make an Aragorn film, though I doubt he would rescue Oliphaunts in the East or South, but who knows haha 😊 Thanks for commenting!

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

@@CounciloftheRings We can but dream! 🐘🤴

[@papemoe]

Excellent! Looking forward to the premiere 🖖

[@upschutt4842]

Waiting...

[@CounciloftheRings]

12:00 GMT 0 is the only right time to celebrate Tolkien Reading Day in my mind :P Then it's officially the 25th for everyone in the world :D

[@bighand1530]

Same.

[@CounciloftheRings]

@@bighand1530 It's out :)

[@bighand1530]

@@CounciloftheRings Nice

[@NerdoftheRings]

Excellent topic choice! Thanks for hosting the playlist this year!

[@CounciloftheRings]

Thank you, and any time! Thanks for commenting 🙏🤗

[@Hemskelol]

Your theory makes a lot of sense, and I also believe that Aragorn, like myself and many others, was curious about why the Easterlings/Corsairs were willing to follow Sauron. Even though there were Black Numenórians amongst them, it doesn’t make sense that they’d blindly follow him after thousands of years. Surely the hate for the men of the west would’ve subsided.

[@VoiceoftheRings]

Happy Tolkien Reading day!!! Thanks again for hosting for us! Nice video!

[@CounciloftheRings]

You’re very welcome! 😁 and thanks!

[@papemoe]

did not disappoint 👍👍 two thumbs up from me

[@nalublackwater9729]

I think the Blue Wizards were long gone before Aragorn ventured into the East, but that would have made an interesting story. Thank you for this vid!

[@CounciloftheRings]

Oh but it's said that the Blue Wizard's efforts in the East prevented Sauron from total victory in The War of the Ring, so it is certainly possible, but perhaps less likely 😁 Thanks for commenting and Happy Tolkien Reading Day!

[@palpatine84]

Really nice artwork at 3:09. Who made it?

[@CounciloftheRings]

Sadly I haven’t found the name of the artist, but it’s from LOTR Rise to War and can be seen on their website ☺️

[@DorkLords]

Happy Tolkien Reading Day, CotR! Excellent topic - and thanks so much for hosting!

[@CounciloftheRings]

Thank you, you’re very welcome! 😁 and thanks for commenting!

[@WolfeRavenwood]

I am a simple Rohirrim, i see a Council of the Rings video, i click a like.

[@CounciloftheRings]

Happy Tolkien Reading Day 😁🧙‍♂

[@Irjikor_Curuvane]

Amazing video!! This one indeed fits wonderfully with the one we did for this playlist. It's as if we wrote them as part one and part two! 😂🤝 Happy Tolkien Reading Day!

[@CounciloftheRings]

Yes! Thank you, quite a funny coincidence!

[@Relics_of_Arda]

Happy Tolkien Reading Day my friend!

[@CounciloftheRings]

Same to you my friend!

[@gandalfthegamer4505]

Can't wait!

[@dragoonzen]

Awesome!

[@exomake_mehorololo]

I wish we knew more about the Blue Wizards. But I think we can be sure Aragorn's mission to East and South was in the name of protection and information gathering. I mean I don't think sightseeing tours were a thing 😅 wouldn't it be fun if someone did movies or shows about the things that are a mystery? That would allow people to create something new and add to the world

[@Enerdhil]

Happy Tolkien Reading Day!

[@CounciloftheRings]

And Happy Tolkien Reading Day to you too! ❤

[@OurThing1389]

I saw this and clicked on it so fast only to see that I have to wait 6 more hours😑 Looking forward to it.

[@CounciloftheRings]

Hahaha yeah I’m honouring the timezone of the Professor so he would be able to watch it with his midday tea and a good old pipe of “Old Toby” 😁

[@OurThing1389]

@@CounciloftheRings Tolkien would be proud.

[@istari0]

My take on what Elrond said to Aragorn regarding Arwen was he basically meant is that if he (Elrond) was going to see his daughter remain in Middle-Earth and be forever parted from her then Aragorn would have to make sure that there was a future for him and Arwen in Middle-Earth. While I'm aware that Aragorn had journeyed to the south and east after leaving Gondor, I had always thought though this was more of a reconnaissance mission so he could learn more about these foes for when the final war came. I hadn't considered that he might have been fomenting resistance to the rule of Sauron but that would have been perfectly in keeping with the character. Personally, I doubt he ever met the Blue Wizards though. Even in his later writings I don't recall Tolkien saying anything about them returning to the West so I suspect Sauron eventually tracked them down. Perhaps this happened during the Watchful peace. Just my thoughts on the matter.

[@papemoe]

ike a flash of lightning it just hit me... Aragorn went East because he couldn't go West!!!!

[@CounciloftheRings]

He knew Hollywood were to the West, so he went the opposite direction XD

[@papemoe]

@@CounciloftheRings was going for the ban, (JRRT humor and all) but that works too 🤣

[@haleyschreiter9746]

Great topic for a happy Tolkien reading day!

[@CounciloftheRings]

Thank you! ❤

[@Edward-nf4nc]

As you said, the Blue Wizards went South and East. Do you think they could have sent word to Elrond, who then sent word to Gandalf who was welcomed in Minas Tirith at the time, and he told or sent word to Aragorn, knowing what name Aragorn used, and told him he needed to go East and South, as Gandalf once told Faramir, who told Frodo, "to the East I go not". Also, when Aragorn returned to Rivendell in 2980 he might have been going to talk to Elrond about what he had found and stopped in Lothlorien to talk to Galadriel about the same things.

[@TolkienLorePodcast]

Nice connection of two completely unrelated passages! I doubt he met the Blue Wizards but your theory otherwise seems plausible to me.

[@CounciloftheRings]

Thanks! Means a lot coming from you 😄 If Sauron's "second arising" is in 2951, it's also a very small time-frame from 2951 to 2980 where the great pillar was gone. I guess it would make sense Gondor didn't notice it being gone in that period and it was first when Aragorn came to Umbar it became certain. Given his upbringing in Rivendell and service in Gondor, he would likely be familiar with the history of the pillar and what it symbolized. But yeah I too find it very unlikely he worked together with the Blue Wizards, but an interesting thought at least.

[@Enerdhil]

Why do you doubt Aragorn met one or both of the Blue Wizards? I would've thought that he would actually look for them as valuable sources of information. Apparently, he didn't, or else we would have read about it. Still, it is a very logical theory

[@CounciloftheRings]

@@Enerdhil *worked together with them. I find it more likely he might have met them, but actively working together with them seems a bit more far-fetched. I would need more proof in general to believe both theories though. It's an interesting idea however.

[@Enerdhil]

@@CounciloftheRings Think Thorongil. He did his little thing in Gondor to help and then bolted. He could easily have done the same in the East, helping the Blue Wizards to unify some Easterling kings against Sauron or Khamul. Of course, Tolkien would have written about it if it had actually happened, but he didn't do it, so it did not happen, unless Aragorn just never told anyone what he actually did in the East and South.

[@CounciloftheRings]

@@Enerdhil True true

[@bighand1530]

Can`t wait.

[@ericleffingwell8617]

Tolkien did say once that had it not been for the Blue Wizards efforts the West may have been overcome in the War of the Ring. It is certainly plausible that they had something to do with educating or training Aragorn in some way that would make him the hardiest and accomplished of all men.

[@thegermaniccoenus2525]

He probably did met with the Ithryn Luin and the Easterling rebels, as well as those of the south with among the rebels of the Haradrim. In his conversations with Gandalf, the wizard might've told him about Rómestámo and Morinehtar, the wizard-leaders of those rebels, hence his mysterious journeys of these far countries. But what words were said will or may never be known, however it can be guessed that it is about every kind of plot-hatching against the Sauron loyalists of Rhûn and Harad.

[@Enerdhil]

I was surprised to see so many Tolkien KZbinrs who did not participate in this collaboration. Steven, Lexi, Chris, Dan, Helen, Rainbow Dave (just got his 100K sub this week), Timbo Took, Karl of Geekzone, etc.

[@CounciloftheRings]

Yeah I was surprised too 🤔 I guess they were all simply busy or didn't bother making a video? idk, they had plenty of chances to participate if they wanted 😁

[@Enerdhil]

@@CounciloftheRings It doesn't look like any of them are making a special video for Tolkien Reading Day. I think every day is Tolkien Reading Day, so I get it if Tolkien KZbinrs don't want to "do something special" for the actual Reading Day, but collaborations are essential for the subs of more "popular" channels to get introduced to the KZbinrs of lesser known channels. There are plenty of fanatical Tolkien KZbin channel subs like me who are willing to watch multiple videos from multiple channels, clicking 👍 and leaving comments. But to tell you the truth, the algorithms almost never lead me to channels. I find them on home pages of Tolkien KZbinrs or on Reading/Hobbit day collabs. Unfortunately, KZbin itself does not do enough to ensure great channels like yours get noticed by potential subs.

[@CounciloftheRings]

@@Enerdhil Well put! 2023 have been incredibly frustrating when it comes to reaching new audiences. I reached 20k subs the 3rd of January but have only gained little more than 500 since, because KZbin stopped recommending my videos 🤷‍♂ I'm just going to continue publishing videos and then eventually one of them might get recommended by the algorithm and then I hope those new viewers also check out some of the videos on the channel 🤔 Time will tell

[@Enerdhil]

@@CounciloftheRings Yes. I wish you the best. Your content is excellent, though I dislike anyone's content connected to that dreaded Amazon debacle. So I am sorry if I seemed a bit militant about it at times.🙏

[@tominiowa2513]

Maybe because the Tolkien Estate will not allow actual readings on KZbin?

[@ellanenish5999]

Could you please tell what is the artwork and artist in 3:27 ?

[@CounciloftheRings]

Ralph Damiani. I’m not sure about the title of the artwork, but it’s the Mouth of Sauron afaik. He has an ArtStation page with it and many other artworks

[@mrchow3177]

Hællo my friend, are you still in on the development on the kingdom og Arda?

[@CounciloftheRings]

Yes, but not the most active on the team right now

[@TheCounterCulture2023]

Is anyone else not getting notifications for this channel?

[@CounciloftheRings]

It actually seems so. In December my videos would get 10k views, but suddenly in January they could barely get 2k. Since then it's even worse and now 2k views seems even hard to reach 😄

[@TheCounterCulture2023]

@Council of the Rings I'm subscribed and have notifications enabled. It seems very odd that KZbin would suppress a channel that is just about Tolkien. Although you did give your honest opinion about RoP, I've noticed that some of the channels that "simped" over that show seem to have blown up quite dramatically. Maybe I'm just a conspiracy theorist, lol.

[@CounciloftheRings]

@@TheCounterCulture2023 Haha yeah I don't think it has anything to do with that, though it would be nice to find the root of this problem. I've also seen channels that hated the show grow, so there's little evidence to support the conspiracy at least haha! 😁

[@Thrundar]

It is not really fitting to aragorn, but I found this band that illustrates the conversation between Morgoth and Ungoliant: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGjWdaaphZymj68

[@sirbonobo3907]

Because Like in the reality, evil sits in the east :)

[@ellanenish5999]

I don't think that Aragorn's attack on Umbar was a motive for the journey, I think it was just natural for him to uncover what the hearts of Men that followed the Enemy were, especially given that Aragorn knew of his destiny and as a leader of Men it makes sense that he would first try to understand their motivations

[@oscarstainton]

If Aragorn’s efforts in the East and South were to lessen those lands’ ties to Mordor, it begs the question of how much the everyday people of those lands pledged fealty to Sauron. Critics of Tolkien have used this fact to paint him in a certain light but this is refuted in the text itself. I am personally tempted to take Sam’s inner thoughts even further and suggest that the armies and military leaders of Harad and Rhun don’t represent the hearts and wills of their people.

[@JoeBossRedSeven]

🍷🍷🧐🧐🎩🎩

[@pp-bb6jj]

Dude lived 210 years, Middle Earth is small, there is nothing to do. So why not?

[@lulululu8045]

Why are you copying NOTR‘s thumbnail designs?

[@CounciloftheRings]

In what way am I copying his designs? Using Ringbearer font like everyone else? 🤔

[@lulululu8045]

@@CounciloftheRings style of the thumbnails. Logo left bottom. Title on thumbnail in same yellow writing style and obviously the drawn background pictures (which I guess is fine and everyone can use them - but the rest just looks pretty much the same).

[@CounciloftheRings]

@@lulululu8045 There's a lot of channels that have their logo in the left bottom as well. Men of the West, Epic Kingdom, Tolkien Tube and Lore of the Rings (and probably many more). It's quite common really. Fellowship of fans put his in the top right and then there's The Broken Sword and Geekzone that put theirs in the top left. All logos that have similarities. I'd say say my logo reminds more of Geekzone and Epic Kingdom in terms of font colour, background colour and the Ringbearer font. We also use the ring inscription, which NOTR doesn't. A common trope for Tolkien channels. My choice of colour is orange-golden on black to remind of the Lord of the Rings title from the PJ adaptation and because it happens to be one of my favourite colour combinations 😊 The yellow writing font is both to make it look similar to the LotR title again and because it's a colour that catch the eye and increase click-through rate. It's proven to make videos perform better, so that's why I use it (and becuase it fits the logo colours). It's all part of a branding strategy. Much like Tolkien Untangled use the rainbow colours. I guess the only real similarity is the short form of our channel names NOTR / COTR, but that's because we both use the LOTR title as inspiration, not each other. Something that's very good SEO-wise. It increase search performance on KZbin and Google and connects the channel name better with the Lord of the Rings name. So if you explore some of the other Tolkien channels out there you'll see we all have some similarities. 😊 I hope that puts things in perspective Cheers and Happy Tolkien Reading Day 🧙‍♂

[@lulululu8045]

@@CounciloftheRings I guess that's fair, cheers.

[@Divine_Chareka]

Happy Tolkien Reading Day!!